Monday, December 13, 2010

Saturday's Crafty Fox Market at the Dogstar saw over 1500 people through the doors throughout the day. We even had a visit from The Mayor of Lambeth! The response to all the beautiful handmade items was fantastic and many a Christmas present dilemma was easily solved. The DJ's kept us smiling and the bar staff kept the drinks flowing. Amity and Geoge from Etsy were on hand with funky Etsy tote bags for the early birds which were soon filled with crafty goodies. The free knitting workshop from the Community Knitting Club was also really popular. Thanks to all who contributed to making The Crafty Fox such a successful and fun day. Keep an eye on the blog for the full set of photos coming soon!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Brixton's local stitch 'n bitch collective otherwise known as The Community Knitting Club will be running a FREE knitting workshop this Saturday at The Crafty Fox Market from 12 - 2pm. No experience is needed so why not plan your visit to the market around the workshop. If you've ever had a desire to pick up the needles, now is your chance! You can impress your friends with your own handmade Christmas tree decoration - cool eh!

12.00 - Community Knitting Club Introduction followed by Casting On (without the carry-on!)

12.30 - Know your Knit stitch

12.45 - Pretty Purl stitch

13.00 - Simply Stocking Stitch

13.15 - Casting Off

13.30 - Knit your own festive decorations!

There will be a limited amount of needles and wool available for use duringthe workshop on a first come, first served basis. Experienced or beginner knitters, everyone is welcome! You can read more about the Community Kitting Club here.

You can use Brixton Pounds at The Crafty Fox Market this Saturday! In case you haven't heard that Brixton has it's own currency, here's the official description......

"The Brixton Pound (B£) is money that sticks to Brixton. It’s designed to support Brixton businesses and encourage local trade and production. It’s a complementary currency, working alongside (not replacing) pounds sterling, for use by independent local shops and traders."

Thursday, November 25, 2010

We have been lucky enough to receive some good publicity from a wide variety of publications over the past few weeks. With a bit of luck, this will translate into lots of visitors to The Crafty Fox Market. The excitement is building and our crafters are busy creating lots of beautiful and unique Christmas gifts. You will find a selection of our publicity so far here:

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Crafty Fox came to life in September as I was making my way to North London to sell my handmade jewellery at a craft fair. I had begun to look for selling opportunities at Christmas markets and was dismayed to find that September was already too late. The majority of markets were already booked up or charged premium prices. I also noticed that there was a lack of independant markets in South London and a lightbulb pinged above my head!

I decided there and then that the only thing to do was to put on my own market. I roped in my partner Stephan who spent years promoting club nights back in Dublin. He's also fairly nifty with spreadsheets so I thought that could be useful too!
We spent a couple of weeks throwing around ideas for the name (...this stage should never be rushed!!). Megafair, Foxy Craft, South London Crafts.....? The Crafty Fox soon emerged as a clear winner and it's already proved to be popular choice. The next step was to involve the wonderful James of Jimbob Art as there was really only one person who could drum up the perfect Crafty Fox at the drop of a hat. True to form, James set aside his plates for a day and created the very dapper Foxy.

Once in possession of The Crafty Fox there was no turning back. Giving the market an identity made it real and so my exitement and enthuaism for the project continued to grow. We were delighted to learn that Etsy were happy to sponsor us and it was very exciting to see the stall holder enquiries begin to roll in following a shout out by Amity in the Etsy UK newsletter.

It was really encouraging to see that there were lots of others who were in the same boat as me and were delighted to hear about The Crafty Fox. In the end, we had over twice as many applications as available stalls. This led to a fun but challenging X-factor style eliminitation. I never knew that so many people made fabric rabbits before!

So now the promotion begins in earnest and our challenge is to draw in as many shoppers as possible. If you are reading this, please help by telling your friends to come and join us at the Dogstar on 11th December for the ultimate Christmas shopping experience!